Written Answers Wednesday 28 March 2007

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many recipients of single farm payments for land in Scotland were individuals or companies from the rest of the (a) United Kingdom and (b) world in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Ross Finnie: The Single Farm Payment Scheme commenced on 1 January 2005 and claims are lodged on 15 May each year. Consequently, information is only available for the first two years of the scheme. The domiciliary arrangements of beneficiaries are as follows:

  

 Farm Businesses with a Correspondence Address in:
 2005 Scheme
 2006 Scheme


 Number
 Materiality
 Number
 Materiality


 - Scotland
 20,745
 99.62%
 20,235
 99.53%


 - Rest of the United Kingdom
 71
 0.34%
 87
 0.43%


 - Overseas
 8
 0.04%
 8
 0.04%


 Totals
 20,824
 100.00%
 20,330
 100.00%

Asylum Seekers

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance it has produced concerning the welfare of children moved to Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.

Robert Brown: The operation and management of Dungavel is the responsibility of the Home Office which has a set of Operating Standards which includes those centres dealing with families with children. The Home Office also has a Child Protection Policy issued centrally and ensure that the commercial operators of any centre which houses children adopt this policy into their own Child Protection policies and procedures which are developed in collaboration with the relevant local authority. In the case of Dungavel that is South Lanarkshire Council.

Bute House

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of all official engagements undertaken at Bute House by Executive ministers since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: No central record is held of all occasions when ministers have undertaken official engagements at Bute House. Providing the details requested could only be done so at disproportionate costs.

Bute House

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of all official engagements undertaken at Bute House by the First Minister since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: No central record is held of all occasions when official engagements have been undertaken by the First Minister at Bute House. Providing the details requested could only be done so at disproportionate costs.

Bute House

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of all events attended by (a) the First Minister and (b) Executive ministers at Bute House since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: No central record is held of all occasions when the First Minister or ministers are present at Bute House events. Providing the details requested could only be done so at disproportionate costs.

Drug Misuse

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many seizures of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) crack cocaine, (d) ecstasy and (e) cannabis took place in each police board area in each year since 1999, showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Cathy Jamieson: Information on the number of drug seizures each year, broken down by police board area and drug type, is given in the following publications, all of which have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

  

 Publication
 Bib. Number
 Table
 Year


 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland, 2001
 20860
 104
 1999


 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland, 2002
 27706
 E2.2
 2000


 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland, 2003
 32141
 E2.2
 2001


 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland, 2004
 36121
 E2.2
 2002


 Drug Misuse Statistics Scotland, 2005
 38474
 D2.2
 2003


 Drug Seizures by Scottish Police Forces, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006
 42386
 9 & 11
 2004-05


 12 & 14
 2005-06

Education

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to address under-representation of women in head teacher posts in secondary schools.

Hugh Henry: The Executive is constantly promoting equal opportunities in teacher recruitment and promotion. There has been a steady increase in the percentage of women in head teacher posts in secondary schools in recent years. Since devolution in 1999 this has risen from 11.5%, to 21% in 2005.

Environment

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to help tackle climate change.

Ross Finnie: Changing Our Ways: Scotland’s Climate Change Programme , published by the Scottish Executive in March 2006, details the Executives strategic approach to tackling climate change. A copy is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39288).

  The first annual report, Scotland’s Climate Change Programme: Annual Report 2007, was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 8 March. A copy is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42132).

Environment

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated total levels of CO 2 emissions have been from all sources per head of population in Stirling in the last year for which information is available.

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated total levels of CO 2 emissions have been in each local authority area in the last year for which information is available.

Ross Finnie: Estimated levels of carbon dioxide emissions for 2004 at local authority and regional level are available in a report entitled Local and Regional CO2 Emissions Estimates for 2004 for the UK  produced for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). These experimental statistics present estimated emissions in a number of different ways, including by area and per capita.

  A copy of the report is available on the Defra website at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/statistics/globatmos/.

Environment

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of carbon dioxide emission reductions from the manufacturing and construction sector between 1990 and 2004 can be attributed to (a) improved energy efficiency in the sector and (b) closures in heavy manufacturing industry, such as the closure of the Ravenscraig plant.

Ross Finnie: Information on the relative contribution of different factors, such as energy efficiency, to reductions in emissions from the manufacturing and construction sector is not held centrally.

  However, as indicated in Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland 1990-2004, published by the National Environmental Technology Centre and available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42395), emissions from manufacturing industry and construction have declined over the period by 41%, mainly due to the closure of the Ravenscraig Steel Plant.

Environment

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how the scale of carbon dioxide sinks from land use, land use change and forestry is calculated and whether the methodology for this calculation has changed since the baseline year of 1990.

Ross Finnie: Estimation methodologies are included in Appendix 1 of Greenhouse Gas Inventories for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland published by the National Environmental Technology Centre. The latest available data, for the period 1990-2004, was published in 2006 and is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42395).

  Since 1990, improvements to data collection and estimation techniques have resulted in revisions to the data and methods used to estimate emissions. Where appropriate, revisions are made to historic data which means that it is not appropriate to make comparisons with previous inventory reports without taking account of changes to data and estimation techniques.

Equal Opportunities

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish its next gender audit and how the findings will be used by each of its departments when implementing policy.

Rhona Brankin: The Gender Audit of Statistics will be published before the end of March 2007. The audit provides the most comprehensive review to date of currently available gender disaggregated statistics and sets out gendered differences and inequalities across a range of key areas of social and economic life in Scotland. It looks at the extent and nature of differences and inequalities as indicated by statistical trends, and comments on changes over time. The audit has already informed the development of our gender equality scheme and the individual action plans of Scottish Executive departments, which set out the corporate and departmental policy objectives for implementing the requirements of the gender equality duty.

Equal Opportunities

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to increase the number of women in local authority chief executive posts.

Rhona Brankin: Local authorities are statutory bodies with statutory responsibilities, responsible for running their own affairs. Under section 64 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, they are empowered to appoint such staff as in necessary for the proper discharge of their functions and on such terms and conditions as they think fit. The appointment of staff is entirely a matter for individual local authorities and in doing so it is up to them to ensure they comply with all employment legislation.

  The gender balance of chief executives in local authorities is a matter for those local authorities and they will need to examine their working practices in this regard under the gender equality duty which comes into force in April 2007. However, the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 introduced a duty of best value for all local authorities. The duty has 10 characteristics, one of which is equal opportunities. The statutory guidance states that a local authority which secures best value will be able to demonstrate a culture which encourages both equal opportunities and the observance of the equal opportunities requirements. This means (amongst other things) that the encouragement of equal opportunities and meeting the equal opportunities requirements are reflected in the authority’s objectives and highlighted in all plans at corporate and service level, and that employment policies are fully in line with their commitment to equal opportunities and training is in place to support that commitment.

Equal Opportunities

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support it is providing to public sector organisations to assist them to comply with the gender equality duty.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support is being given to public transport providers to ensure that services comply with the requirements of the gender equality duty.

Rhona Brankin: It is a matter for individual public authorities to ensure they comply with the gender equality duty. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is the organisation responsible for providing support and guidance to the public sector, however, to support the introduction of the duty and assist public sector organisations in Scotland the Scottish Executive has:

  
commissioned a Gender Audit of Statistics, which will be published shortly, providing the most comprehensive analysis to date of currently available gender disaggregated statistics, and, where relevant, key research reports and reviews, for Scotland;
supported Fair For All Gender, a partnership between EOC Scotland and the Executives Health Department to help the NHS in Scotland to mainstream gender equality considerations into planning and delivery and ensure the health service meets its obligations under the new public sector gender equality duty;
contributed to the development of the Equal Opportunities Commission’s (EOC) Scottish Code of Practice for the Gender Equality Duty;
contributed to the development of the EOC’s guidance for the public sector on the gender equality duty, including, Scottish Guidance for Local Government, Scottish Guidance for Pre and Post-16 Education, Scottish Guidance for Local Government, Scottish Guidance for Health, Scottish Guidance for Criminal Justice and guidance on impact assessment, which are available on the EOC Scotland’s website at www.eoc.org.uk;
participated in EOC consultation and awareness raising events across Scotland for the Scottish Code of Practice, and
provided funding and support to the EOC to organise the Transgender Rights: Organisational Responsibilities, Good Employment Practise and Service Provision conference.


  The Executive is committed to continuing to work with the EOC, relevant employees and public authorities in Scotland to encourage and support the implementation of the gender duty. As part of this we plan to establish a Public Sector Equality Forum and will use this to promote shared or joint approaches by public authorities. This forum will consider issues arising from all three public equality duties.

Fertility Services

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether both the report of the Review of Access Criteria for Infertility and the Executives recommendations arising from the review will be published prior to dissolution of the Parliament.

Lewis Macdonald: Yes, the report was published today and can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/173213 .

  Additional work on recommendations arising from the review is underway and we will publish our findings in due course.

Fire Service

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) full-time and (b) retained fire fighters there were in each fire board area in each of the last five years, also expressed as a ratio to the population and showing the number of current vacancies in each category.

Johann Lamont: The information requested is given in Appendices 1 and 2 of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland annual reports published by the Scottish Executive in October 2001, January 2003, January 2004; October 2005 and December 2006, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 25890; 30472; 34686; 38132, and 41202).

Fisheries

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to the extension of the weekly close time for salmon fishing in 1988, how the Executive defines the term "general conservation grounds" and what scientific evidence existed at that time to support the case for extension.

Sarah Boyack: As there is no definition of this term in the relevant legislation, the words must take their normal meaning. The Scottish Office in 1988 considered that general conservation grounds in relation to salmon were that there were declining numbers of salmon returning to Scottish rivers and that these should be afforded increased protection.

  The scientific evidence relating to juvenile salmon production in rivers available at the time was recognised as being inconclusive. However, against a backdrop of increasing levels of mortality in salmon during the marine part of their life cycle, the Government introduced the regulations as a precautionary measure to reduce exploitation of salmon in home waters to protect declining stocks.

Fisheries

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the extension of the weekly close time for salmon fishing in 1988 applied only to netting interests and not to angling interests.

Sarah Boyack: At that time nets were taking 75-80% of the total catch of salmon and grilse. Extending the weekly close time for nets would effect a greater reduction in exploitation than extending the weekly close time for salmon fishing by rod and line. The government of the day also considered the relative economic values of rod caught and net caught fish to the economy generally and to rural Scotland in particular, and concluded that the value of a rod-caught fish was many times greater than the value of a net-caught fish.

Fisheries

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with regard to salmon netting rights that are the subject of private heritable title, why no compensation has been offered to those owners for measures that have had a substantial impact on the profitability of such operations.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive understands that what is being referred to is compensation in respect of the Salmon (Weekly Close Time) (Scotland) Regulations 1988. In such case, no compensation has been offered because the Executive considers that no right to compensation exists.

Fisheries

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is with regard to the (a) angling and (b) netting industries.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive’s policy is that where there is a harvestable surplus, all who have the legal right to fish or written permission from a person having such right should continue to be allowed to fish.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on implementation of the Sea Fisheries Strategy since its launch.

Ross Finnie: There has been a great deal of progress since the launch of the Sea Fisheries Strategy ( A Sustainable Framework for Scottish Sea Fisheries ) in 2005.

  In September 2006, the SeaFAR group, which brought together all the key players in the Scottish sea fisheries sector, published an Action Plan to underpin the strategy. Real progress has been made on a range of issues on the ground including:

  
Improved communications between the Executive, the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) and the industry and significant improvements in compliance as evidenced by publication of figures from the SFPA showing figures showing blackfish landings have declined to negligible levels;
Improved economic prospects for the whitefish fleet and the development and implementation of commercial strategies for Scottish Langoustine and Scottish Haddock;
Development of more industry/science partnership, and
Publication of the first Environment and Rural Affairs Department newsletter for the sea fisheries sector as part of our commitment to improve communications with stakeholders.


  I chaired the first meeting of a re-vamped SeaFAR group on 27 March which will now oversee the full implementation of the plan. The group has agreed that, so far, all the commitments in the plan are broadly on track.

Flood Prevention

Malcolm Chisholm (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people responded to the consultation on the Water of Leith flood prevention scheme that followed the public inquiry and, of these, how many supported (a) the City of Edinburgh Councils scheme and (b) the scheme as amended by the proposals of the Scottish Rugby Union.

Ross Finnie: Of the 2,365 affected parties invited to make representations on the terms of the modifications under consideration, 337 responded, with a further 45, including elected representatives, making representations. A total of 354 were in favour of the modification labelled F1 in the Scottish Executive’s letter of 8 September 2005 (largely the City of Edinburgh Council’s scheme); two preferred the modification labelled F2 (the SRU’s proposal); nine were content with either modification, and four opposed confirmation of the scheme in any form.

Football

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money has been spent on implementing the action plan for youth football.

Patricia Ferguson: £1.2 million of public money has been spent on implementing the action plan for youth football.

Football

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been given to grassroots clubs under the action plan for youth football.

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding allocated under the action plan for youth football has gone to commercial clubs.

Patricia Ferguson: It is professional clubs that are undertaking the grassroots work associated with youth football.

  £1.2 million of public money has so far been spent on implementing the Action Plan for Youth Football. These funds have come from the contributions to the Action Plan for Youth Football by sportscotland and the Big Lottery Fund. At the end of 2006, professional clubs have been given £415,657 from the Action Plan for Youth Football for their grassroots work: £398,622 is from the Performance Development Programme and paid directly to professional clubs and £17,035 through the Quality Mark Scheme. In addition, clubs have benefited from in-kind support equating to around £270,000. This relates to the creation of regional structures, professional staffing and related programmes.

Football

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what structures are in place to ensure that money allocated under the action plan for youth football is spent at grassroots level.

Patricia Ferguson: The implementation steering group which includes the Scottish Football Association, sportscotland, the Scottish Executive, affiliated national football bodies and a representative from local authorities have agreed projects at grassroots level and attached spend. The Steering Group is updated on progress and reviews spend annually.

Health

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who the members are of the public health network referred to by the Minister for Health and Community Care in a letter to me of 8 January 2007 and on what basis each member was selected.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Public Health Networks (ScotPHNs) remit is to facilitate joint working between all organisations involved in health improvement and health services by providing a means of communication, through specific projects in areas of national importance, and to do this the network consists of a steering group which is chaired by a Director of Public Health. Its membership is drawn from key individuals from relevant organisations such as Directors of Public Health and Medical Directors from Special Health Boards. It agrees and guides the ScotPHN work programme.

  Governance of the network is undertaken by a stakeholder group. These stakeholders include broad representation from organisations responsible for delivering health improvement and health service, such as Directors of Public Health; Consultants in Public Health Medicine; Health Promotion Managers; Public Health Specialists; Public Health Academics; Public health colleagues from Special Health Boards; Community Health Partnership General Managers or Clinical Directors; Dental Public Health; Pharmaceutical Public Health and Environmental Health Specialists.

Housing

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much and what type of housing has been built on Rum in each of the last 20 years, also giving the permanent population of Rum in each of these years.

Rhona Brankin: This is a matter for Scottish Natural Heritage. The information requested is not held centrally.

Maternity Services

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) underweight and (b) premature babies were born in the last year for which figures are available and how many were born in 1997, broken down by NHS board.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is given in table entitled Low Birth Weight Babies 1997 and 2003 , which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42301).

Maternity Services

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all NHS boards implement the 2004 NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHS QIS) guidelines recommending that all pregnant women are offered 20-week ultrasound scans.

Lewis Macdonald: The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland publication National Overview January 2007 Maternity Services  reported that following their review of their Clinical Standards for Maternity Services (carried out between November 2005 and June 2006), 10 out of the then 15 health boards routinely carried out anomaly scans at 18 to 22 weeks.

  In those areas where routine anomaly scans at 18 to 22 weeks are not carried out, women are selected for further scans on the basis of clinical need. Local policies will establish the criteria by which these decisions are made.

  The Executive is working closely with all NHS boards to ensure that developments in screening during pregnancy are introduced efficiently and effectively and this includes the introduction of routine foetal anomaly scanning in those boards that do not currently offer this service.

Medical Students

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many and what percentage of medical graduates left Scotland for their first posts in each of the last five years, broken down by medical school and category of graduate.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is provided in a document headed Destination of Graduates from Scottish Medical Schools 2001 2006 , a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42336).

Ministerial Engagements

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list, for all ministerial engagements that have taken place since 1 September 2006, the locations visited.

Mr Tom McCabe: I shall write to the member as soon as the information is available and will arrange for a copy of my reply to be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42443).

Ministerial Visits

Mr Jim Wallace (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the official visits made by Scottish ministers to Orkney since the inception of the Parliament.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is shown in the following table. The information identified in the table has been gathered from the various Ministerial Private Offices and is as complete as our records allow.

  

 Name of Minister
 Title
 Date of Visit
 Purpose Of Visit Including Organisation Met


 Donald Dewar
 First Minister
 6 August 1999
 Launch of Land Reform Website


 Creamery Visit and Announcement


 Exam Results Announcement


 Q and A Event Kirkwall Arts Centre


 24 March 2000
 Visit To Balfour Hospital


 Opening of Orkney College


 Signing of Orkney World Heritage Site Contract


 Henry McLeish
 First Minister
 2 March 2001
 Official Opening Balfour Hospital


 Glaitness Primary School


 Radio Orkney Interview


 Jack McConnell
 First Minister
 14 May 2005
 30th Anniversary of Islands Council Gala Events


 15 May 2005
 Tour of Scapa Flow


 23 April 2006
 Service of thanksgiving St Magnus Cathedral


 Visit to St Magnus Festival Offices


 24 April 2006
 Highlands and Islands Convention


 Official Opening of Garson Dental Practice


 Visit to European Machine Energy Centre Offices


 Visit to Firth Primary School


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 3 September 1999
 Opening of Orkney Science Festival


 22 November 1999
 Speech at Conference for Lifelong Learning


 8 September 2000
 Opening of Orkney Science Festival


 10 November 2000
 Attending Orkney Disability Forum


 15 February 2001
 Speech at Orkney Youth Crime Seminar


 2 March 2001
 Opening of Balfour Hospital


 Visit to Glaitness Primary School


 25 November 2002
 Launch of the Orkney drug, Alcohol and Smoking Action Plan


 30 August 2002
 Chairing Criminal lecture at Orkney Science Festival


 15 October 2002
 Speech at the Renewable Reality Seminar at Stromness Academy


 29 November 2002
 Speech at Homelessness Awareness day


 BBC Question Time, Kirkwall Grammar 


 31 May 2003
 International Council on Monuments and Sites UK Buffet Supper in Orkney


 2 June 2003
 Speech at Orkney’s Health Everyone’s Business Conference


 2 September 2003
 Royal Engagement


 14 May 2004
 Reception for the success of open university graduates in Orkney


 28 May 2004
 Visiting Volunteers Centre Orkney


 1 September 2004
 Attending Orkney Science Festival


 3 June 2005
 Visiting St Rognvlads Residential Care, Orkney


 Nicol Stephen
 Deputy First Minister
 14 August 2006
 Visit to Orkney Industry Committee, Economic Development Group


 Visit to European Machine Energy Centre and Open Hydro


 Meeting with Orkney Renewable Energy Forum


 International Centre for Island Technology


 15 August 2006
 Visit to Orkney College


 Nicol Stephen
 Minister for Transport
 25 to 26 August 2003
 Visit to Flotta 


 Visit to Hatston Ferry Terminal


 Meeting with Orkney Islands Councillors


 Margaret Curran
 Deputy Minister for Social Justice
 17 April 2001
 Meeting with Orkney Housing Association


 Sam Galbraith
 Minister of Education and Young People
 26 November 1999
 School Visits


 Peter Peacock
 Minister of Education and Young People
 9 June 2006
 School Visits and Ministerial Reception


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education & Young People
 6 August 2004
 Meeting Chairman of Children’s Hearing Panel


 Meeting with Orkney Islands Council


 Meeting with Orkney Pre-School and Play Association 


 Meeting with Chief Executive Orkney Islands Council 


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development
 8 12 August 2000
 Orkney County Show


 9 October 2001
 Reception for Ministers, Convention of Highlands and Islands


 10 October 2001
 Convention of Highlands and Islands


 6 December 2003
 Meeting Orkney Fisherman’s Association


 23 August 2004
 Visit to Agronomy Institute, Orkney College


 Visit to Orkney Auction Mart 


 Meeting with Orkney Fisherman’s Association 


 Meeting with Orkney National Farmers Union


 11 August 2006
 Visit to Orkney Herring Company, Stromness


 12 August 2006
 Orkney County Show, Kirkwall


 Rhona Brankin
 Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development
 23 24 April 06
 Convention of the Highlands and Islands


 Tom McCabe
 Minister for Finance 
 24 April 2006
 Meeting with Orkney Islands Council Leadership 


 Meeting with Jim Wallace & Alistair Buchan


 Speech, Highlands & Islands Convention 


 Andy Kerr
 Minister for Finance 
 2 August 2004
 Mgt with Orkney Community Planning Partners


 Lunch with Orkney Islands Council 


Official opening of OrkneyIslands Customer Service one stop shop 


 Visit to European Machine Energy Centre 


 Press meeting


 Dinner with Orkney Islands Council 


 23 May 2002
 Modernising Government Fund visit to East Kirk


 Finance Committee Meeting


 2 August 2004
 Orkney Islands Council 


 Andy Kerr
 Minister for Health and Community Care
 3 August 2005
 NHS Orkney Annual Review 2004 2005


 Meeting with Area Clinical Forum


 Meeting Partnership Forum


 Visit to Balfour Hospital Radiography Dept


 31 July 2006
 NHS Orkney Annual Review 2005 2006 


 Meeting Chair and Chief exec, NHS Orkney


 Lunch with NHS Orkney Board members


 Meeting Area Partnership Forum


 Meeting Area Clinical Forum


 Meeting Patients / Service Users


 Opening new Renal Unit, Balfour Hospital


 Press Briefing


 Tavish Scott
 Deputy Minister for Finance
 7 August 2003
 Meeting with Orkney Council


 Tavish Scott
 Minister for Transport
 28 October 2005
 Meeting with Ferries, Transport Grant and Regional Transport Partnerships


 Inter Island Air Service, Orkney Island Council


 Livestock meeting, Orkney Island Council


 29 October 2005
Container HubScapa Flow Oil Port, Director of Harbours & Director of Development Services OrkneyOrkney Enterprise Ltd


 5 March 2007
 Community Council Visit


 Tour of Orkney Ferries


 Kirkwall Travel Centre


 George Lyon
 Deputy Minister for Finance and Parliamentary Business
7 February 2007
 Meeting with Orkney Council


 Susan Deacon
 Minister for Health and Community Care
 22 October 1999
 Tour of Balfour Hospital


 Tour of New Community Facilities at Glaitness Project for People with Physical Disabilities and Glaitness Very Sheltered Housing


 Malcolm Chisholm
 Minister for Health and Community Care
 6 August 2002
 Meeting NHS Orkney Senior Management team


 Visit to Community Social Services, Laing Street, Kirkwall


 Tour of Balfour Hospital


 Visit Health Centre, Kirkwall


 Dinner with NHS Orkney Board members


 7 August 2002
 Meeting with Partnership Forum, Balfour Hospital


 Meeting with members of Carers and Users Patient Information Database


 Tour of Balfour Hospital


 Frank McAveety
 Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care
 11 to 12 November 2002
 Visit to Westray and Papa Westray, Initiative at the Edge


 Dr Richard Simpson
 Deputy Minister for Justice
 27 May 2002
 Visit to Orkney Drug Action Team


 Orkney College


 Patricia Ferguson 
 Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
17 to 18 June 2006
 Attendance at St Magnus Festival


 Elish Angiolini
 Solicitor General
 17 May 2004
 Installation Sheriff of Grampian, Highlands and Islands


 29 August to 1 September 2004
 National Lighthouse Board Inspection


 Colin Boyd
 Lord Advocate
 24 to 28 August 04
 National Lighthouse Board Inspection


 23 July 2001
 Visit to local Procurator Fiscal Office


 Iain Gray
 Minister for Social Justice
 19 March 2002
 Voluntary Action Orkney - Active Communities Conference & Lunch


 Visit Orkney Women’s Aid and Orkney Victim Support


 Orkney Housing Association 


 Dr Elaine Murray
 Deputy Minister for Sport, The Arts and Culture
 3 to 4 May 02
 Meeting with Orkney Tourist Board


 Launch of Orkney Tourism Strategy


 Visit to Skara Brae Visitor Centre

NHS Staff

Dr Jean Turner (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive how many consultants were allowed to work in the NHS beyond retirement age in each year since 1990, broken down by (a) speciality and (b) NHS board.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is not possible to say whether the consultants were allowed to work beyond retirement age. A table has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42437), showing the number of consultants who are at the retirement age of 65 or over in the post at 30 September each year since 1990 by NHS board by specialty.

Police

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of police time was spent on frontline duties in each police force area in each year since 2003-04.

Cathy Jamieson: Decisions about the operational deployment of police officers are a matter for the chief constables of individual police forces.

Police

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) percentage and (b) number of police officers are due to reach retiral age in each of the next five years, also broken down by police force.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is shown is the following table. A breakdown by police force is not held centrally.

  

 Year
No. of OfficersEligible to Retire
Percentage of Total Strength at31 December 2006


 2007-08
 470
 2.9%


 2008-09
 637
 3.9%


 2009-10
 748
 4.6%


 2010-11
 414
 2.6%



  These figures exclude any retirements on the grounds of ill-health.

Public Sector Staff

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed by agencies and non-departmental public bodies in Stirling.

Mr Tom McCabe: Information on the location and number of staff employed in the headquarters of non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), is contained on the Public Bodies and Appointments website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/public-bodies/introduction

  There are no Executive agencies with headquarters based in Stirling. However, some of the Executive’s 17 agencies have regional or area offices, e.g. Historic Scotland. Details of staff employed in regional or area offices of Executive agencies are not held centrally. Information is available directly from individual organisations with links to agency websites and contact details provided on the public bodies website.

Schools

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the guidelines on the use of biometric systems in schools, currently being developed by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, will apply in Scotland.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Hugh Henry: I understand that this guidance is being developed on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills and will, therefore, only apply to schools in England.

Schools

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects local authorities to have sprinkler systems installed in newly built schools as a matter of best practice.

Hugh Henry: These are decisions for local authorities and others involved in the detailed building specification. Executive guidance emphasises the importance of considering all aspects of fire safety planning in the context of thorough risk and security assessments.

Schools

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it issues guidance to local authorities on the installation of sprinkler systems in schools.

Hugh Henry: The Executive’s booklet Fire Safety in Schools Building our Future: Scotland’s School Estate published in November 2003 suggests that the provision of sprinklers should be considered for new schools and for existing high risk schools. The decision on installation remains though one for the local authority concerned. A copy of the booklet is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 36155).

Schools

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware that Argyll and Bute Council will not be installing a sprinkler system in the new Hermitage Academy.

Hugh Henry: The Executive does not collect information on the specification of individual school buildings.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate or best prediction is of the amount of end-year flexibility (EYF) for 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not forecast levels of EYF but provisional outturn data for 2006-07 on which EYF will be based is expected to be announced in June 2007. Figures for 2007-08 can similarly be expected in June 2008.

Scottish Water

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of comments on 14 March 2007 by the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning that the Executive had considered the mutualisation of Scottish Water, what research has been carried out into the financial implications of mutualisation and the long-term capital costs that would be incurred by a mutual company.

Sarah Boyack: Research on the options for the Scottish water industry, including mutualisation, was undertaken in 1997 and 2001. This work informed the creation of the three regional water authorities and Scottish Water respectively. Since then no research on any prospective mutualisation has been undertaken by the executive.

Social Work

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will change its policy with regard to bursaries for social work courses in line with decisions made in England and Wales.

Robert Brown: Student support is a wholly devolved matter and the student support system in Scotland reflects decisions taken by the Scottish Executive in consideration of our particular circumstances. The systems that have been developed by each country take into account the differing situations facing students in that country, which include the differing approaches to living cost support and tuition fees.

Special Advisers

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much severance pay was provided to political advisers who left the civil service in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: Combined information on the net amount of severance pay provided to special advisers over four periods is provided in the following table. Information cannot be provided on an annual basis to preserve confidentiality as the number of Special Advisers receiving severance in some years is low.

  

 Year
 1999-2003
 2003-07


 Net Amount
£154,754
£122,813



  The criteria for the calculation of severance pay are set out in paragraph 14d of the Model Contract for Special Advisers which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 37226).

Visually Impaired People

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made in providing a single system of transcription of reading materials for blind or partially sighted people and whether it has been in contact with the RNIB on this issue and, if so, what response it has received.

Robert Brown: The Centre for Communication Aids for Language and Learning, University of Edinburgh, was commissioned to conduct a scoping exercise on accessible curriculum materials for all young people with additional support needs, and to consider the need for a national transcription service for curriculum materials. The final report, which sought views from organisations such as RNIB, was submitted to the Executive on 9 March 2007. Discussions on the content of the report took place with RNIB on 26 March 2007.

  A stakeholder group meeting will be convened in May to consider the report. RNIB will be invited to attend this meeting and to participate in discussions on the way forward.

Waste Management

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans for the development of a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to the development of a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.

Cathy Peattie (Falkirk East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what communication it has had from local authorities or joint council bodies regarding the development of a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.

Ross Finnie: The Executive itself has no plans to develop a waste incinerator in the Forth Valley area.

  The local authorities in the Forth Valley area (Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling Councils) submitted a Strategic Outline Case which included suggested infrastructure for treating residual municipal waste.

  Following consideration of this Strategic Outline Case, and other cases put forward by other local authorities, I have recently written to all local authorities in Scotland. In particular, I have asked the Forth Valley authorities to produce an Outline Business Case on residual waste by 31 December 2007 and to consider the scope for producing this Outline Business Case jointly with Fife Council and Perth and Kinross Council.

Waste Management

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when its decisions on each of the strategic outline cases on National Waste Plan funding, published in May 2006, will be made public.

Ross Finnie: I announced the way forward for implementation of phase 2 of the National Waste Plan on 14 March 2007. This announcement outlined the position for local authorities in terms of recycling/composting rates which should be achieved, new treatment capacity for residual waste and indicative funding for treatment facilities.

  The total maximum capacity for treatment which will receive support from the Strategic Waste Fund is 1.14 million tonnes by 2020. The total amount of indicative funding to be made available from the Strategic Waste Fund is 48 million per year (at today’s prices). Two groups of local authorities have received indicative allocations of tonnages and funding. Further indicative allocations to the remaining local authorities will be within the overall capacity and funding parameters and will be announced at a later date.

Waste Management

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what total amount of waste, including waste recycled, was handled by each local authority in each year from 1999 to 2006.

Ross Finnie: Scottish Environment Protection Agency data for the amount of waste handled by each local authority is detailed in the following table. Figures for 1999 are not available

  

 Local Authority
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Aberdeen
 123,973
 119,548
 145,429
 133,688
 131,828
 140,064


 Aberdeenshire
 132,527
 115,837
 149,626
 144,203
 150,819
 155,123


 Angus 
 68,897
 64,137
 73,650
 76,032
 77,264
 73,381


 Argyll and Bute
 71,539
 64,725
 65,975
 64,746
 62,982
 67,582


 Clackmannanshire 
 31,956
 33,230
 34,423
 37,017
 35,052
 40,919


 Dumfries and Galloway 
 87,182
 89,438
 85,653
 91,993
 110,328
 108,353


 Dundee 
 91,334
 98,418
 102,290
 96,109
 100,260
 95,669


 East Ayrshire 
 64,856
 67,444
 81,804
 81,078
 81,077
 72,083


 East Dunbartonshire
 64,203
 69,824
 68,301
 68,718
 73,119
 73,646


 East Lothian 
 55,305
 58,416
 60,518
 63,975
 65,638
 69,634


 East Renfrewshire 
 50,286
 53,434
 57,889
 59,515
 58,550
 58,144


 Edinburgh 
 257,367
 252,383
 257,796
 262,585
 267,130
 278,538


 Eilean Siar
 28,410
 23,925
 21,963
 21,794
 22,781
 23,126


 Falkirk 
 110,870
 119,875
 122,537
 108,898
 112,396
 140,000


 Fife 
 253,443
 251,914
 260,836
 252,262
 263,840
 293,046


 Glasgow 
 354,549
 397,684
 360,576
 362,608
 386,566
 418,688


 Highland 
 164,492
 139,228
 142,559
 149,559
 158,654
 161,249


 Inverclyde 
 47,243
 43,914
 49,230
 51,273
 50,798
 52,061


 Midlothian 
 49,527
 55,638
 55,650
 54,103
 54,955
 52,678


 Moray 
 59,200
 63,751
 63,708
 67,159
 71,026
 65,233


 North Ayrshire 
 76,800
 89,224
 82,171
 82,752
 83,730
 87,230


 North Lanarkshire 
 191,357
 183,410
 208,706
 195,337
 217,616
 231,898


 Orkney Islands 
 11,021
 11,580
 14,590
 13,050
 16,750
 17,947


 Perth and Kinross 
 93,149
 94,791
 98,172
 95,977
 100,436
 103,231


 Renfrewshire 
 108,397
 101,356
 106,957
 110,133
 129,521
 118,605


 Scottish Borders
 63,597
 69,368
 69,919
 67,938
 80,021
 104,445


 Shetland Islands 
 11,010
 12,207
 12,886
 13,570
 14,407
 13,186


 South Ayrshire
 83,108
 76,870
 77,100
 87,033
 79,875
 78,799


 South Lanarkshire 
 191,592
 207,059
 172,512
 178,373
 204,443
 202,940


 Stirling 
 62,142
 76,857
 83,959
 59,384
 62,407
 61,227


 West Dunbartonshire
 57,691
 58,823
 58,376
 59,589
 64,255
 61,279


 West Lothian 
 94,410
 102,388
 99,696
 106,600
 117,935
 138,079


 Total
 3,211,434
 3,266,696
 3,345,457
 3,317,051
 3,506,460
 3,658,084

Waste Management

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much (a) plastic, (b) glass, (c) metal, (d) paper and (e) compostable material was recycled by each local authority in the most recent year for which information is available.

Ross Finnie: Information on materials recycled and composted by individual local authorities is given in tables 15 and 18 of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s Waste Data Digest 6 . A copy is available on the Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s website at: http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/publications/wds/wdd_6.pdf .

  Waste Data Digest 6 relates to 2004 and 2004/2005 waste data. Waste Data Digest 7 is due out shortly.

Waste Management

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much waste went to landfill in each year from 1999 to 2006, broken down by local authority area.

Ross Finnie: Scottish Environment Protection Agency data for the amount of waste sent to landfill by local authorities from 2000-01 to 2005-06 is shown in the following table. Figures for 1999 are not available.

  Total Tonnes of Waste Landfilled by Scottish Local Authorities (2000-01 to 2005-06)

  

 Local Authority
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Aberdeen 
 119,068
 112,782
 135,004
 121,000
 113,356
 108,159


 Aberdeenshire*
 127,632
 109,702
 135,161
 125,685
 131,895
 129,858


 Angus
 48,211
 35,545
 37,171
 39,936
 39,527
 31,947


 Argyll and Bute
 67,298
 58,734
 58,554
 56,836
 51,372
 50,348


 Clackmannanshire
 30,779
 31,842
 32,121
 33,938
 21,739
 22,141


 Dumfries and Galloway
 84,163
 86,757
 82,538
 88,289
 103,791
 92,359


 Dundee
 64,510
 39,943
 37,634
 35,781
 32,236
 21,687


 East Ayrshire
 62,823
 64,945
 78,225
 75,811
 67,685
 48,356


 East Dunbartonshire
 61,115
 65,030
 61,392
 57,642
 59,260
 54,254


 East Lothian
 53,559
 55,190
 53,040
 54,628
 52,333
 46,634


 East Renfrewshire
 46,337
 49,426
 50,626
 46,155
 41,889
 40,587


 Edinburgh
 244,297
 241,001
 240,541
 231,300
 224,172
 204,982


 Eilean Siar
 28,346
 23,270
 20,651
 19,664
 20,396
 20,273


 Falkirk
 104,841
 113,582
 115,604
 96,226
 90,877
 86,660


 Fife
 247,793
 246,078
 247,989
 209,455
 201,163
 185,808


 Glasgow
 346,316
 384,778
 343,868
 340,083
 351,105
 340,245


 Highland
 163,412
 135,035
 137,258
 140,418
 144,095
 128,997


 Inverclyde
 46,010
 42,371
 47,509
 48,494
 47,276
 42,314


 Midlothian
 48,021
 53,629
 53,496
 51,422
 52,183
 41,341


 Moray
 55,713
 58,192
 54,732
 54,870
 49,796
 42,701


 North Ayrshire
 71,490
 84,280
 72,014
 65,911
 63,988
 64,861


 North Lanarkshire
 189,474
 179,046
 195,107
 170,996
 179,033
 166,642


 Orkney Islands
 1,629
 1,600
 3,438
 3,479
 3,187
 2,255


 Perth and Kinross
 78,497
 80,132
 76,900
 76,216
 73,066
 67,307


 Renfrewshire 
 104,440
 96,617
 98,261
 99,178
 112,756
 93,458


 Scottish Borders
 58,158
 62,586
 63,959
 60,972
 73,682
 71,922


 Shetland Islands
 5,767
 2,348
 3,965
 3,008
 3,913
 3,090


 South Ayrshire
 76,019
 73,350
 73,079
 75,672
 62,512
 51,638


 South Lanarkshire
 183,133
 170,091
 163,140
 147,175
 146,289
 135,237


 Stirling
 57,690
 70,477
 78,476
 51,202
 44,201
 40,864


 West Dunbartonshire
 54,296
 55,681
 54,441
 55,264
 59,568
 49,589


 West Lothian
 90,679
 95,805
 92,909
 94,582
 90,067
 81,336


 Total 
 3,021,516
 2,979,845
 2,998,803
 2,831,288
 2,808,408
 2,567,850



  Source: Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s Local Authority Waste Arisings Survey.

  Note: *Includes In-Vessel Composting (used within landfill).

Waste Management

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive in which local authority areas there are outline proposals to site thermal waste treatment facilities.

Ross Finnie: A number of groups of local authorities submitted Strategic Outline Cases which included suggested infrastructure for treating residual municipal waste. A copy of these Strategic Outline Case , with certain commercially sensitive information removed, can be found on the Scottish Executive website at: http://search.scotland.gov.uk/search/pages/search/basic.asp?QuerySubmit=true&Paging=true&Page=1&QueryText=strategic+outline+cases .

  Following consideration of these Strategic Outline Cases, and draft Outline Business Cases being prepared by the Lanarkshire authorities and the Lothian and Borders authorities, I have recently written to all local authorities in Scotland outlining the way ahead on both recycling and on infrastructure to treat residual waste.

  In a number of cases, I have asked local authorities to submit Outline Business Cases on residual waste infrastructure. These Outline Business Cases will have to be approved by the Scottish ministers ensuring they are in line with our objectives on waste prevention, recycling and composting, value for money, affordability and deliverability.

  The Outline Business Cases should also contain a value for money assessment of alternative forms of procurement. Subject to the conclusions of these assessments, our expectation is that local authorities will issue output based tenders. These will outline the amount of waste authorities wish to divert away from landfill and seek bids and proposals from contractors on how to achieve this objective. Proposals from contractors may include thermal treatment plants.

  In addition, developers are, of course, free to put forward their own proposals for thermal treatment plants.

Waste Management

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies have been carried out to examine the energy content of residual waste once all cyclables have been removed.

Ross Finnie: A number of studies have been carried out on energy and waste. Recent examples include:

  A study by Oakdene Hollins, on the Quantification of the Potential Energy from Residuals (EfR) in the UK. Table 11 is about the calorific value (energy content) and biodegradability of each waste stream in municipal waste. This study can be found at http://www.oakdenehollins.co.uk/renewable-energy.html.

  A study for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the Impact of Energy from Waste and Recycling Policy on UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Table 1.1 in the annex to this report gives the calorific values of different types of waste. This study can be found at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/strategy/pdf/ermreport.pdf.